Day: August 14, 2006

In their quest for Curtis Martin insurance, the Jets have decided to trade for Lee Suggs.

When healthy, Suggs (6-0, 213) was productive for the Browns. He rushed for 186 yards on 26 carries and 2 scores during a win over Cincinnati on Dec. 28, 2003. But he battled numerous injuries during his tenure with the team.

As the article states, Suggs has been great when he’s healthy, but he just hasn’t been able to stay on the field. If Curtis Martin is out of the picture, Suggs is probably the most talented back on the Jets’ roster and he will have the opportunity to fight for playing time.

Fantasy-wise, this move obviously hurts C-Mart’s stock, and is yet another indicator that the team isn’t all that confident that he’ll be able to play this season.

In return, the Jets recieved third-year cornerback Derrick Strait.

Domanick Davis continues to struggle with pain in his knee and it is becoming increasingly clear that he may not be all that effective this season. Antowain Smith is there, but he’s not very explosive. Vernand Morency and Wali Lundy are next in line to start if Davis can’t go. Lundy looked particularly good in the Texans’ first preseason game…Clinton Portis has a separated shoulder, but it’s unclear how much time he’s going to miss. His Antsports’ ADP of 1.04 will surely take a beating until he returns to the field. If Portis is out for any extended time, look for Ladell Betts to be very productive in Al Saunders’ offense…Curtis Martin is still being held out of practice, and it looks more and more that he might be out for the season. The Jets have Cedric Houston, but they’ve been inquiring about the availability of several backs around the league, including Tennessee’s Chris Brown…Mike Shanahan has anointed undrafted rookie Mike Bell as the #1 RB for the time being, moving Ron Dayne to #3 after Tatum Bell. By most accounts, Dayne was having a very good camp, but it appears that Shanahan is impressed by M. Bell, at least for now. Every year, Denver’s running back situation is dicey, so it’s best not to commit a high pick on any of these guys…LenDale White spat in the face of Titans’ safety Donnie Nickey. It’s bad enough to spit at your opponent, but it’s far worse to spit at a teammate you have to play with for an entire season. Maybe White’s personality was the reason he dropped so far in the draft…Philip Rivers went 15 for 21, throwing for 169 yards in the first half in the Chargers’ win over Green Bay. Anyone worried about the effect of the departure of Drew Brees on LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates has to feel good about Rivers’ performance.

While in training camp, Clinton Portis lobbied hard for less playing time for starters as preseason neared.

Portis didn’t want himself or any other key component to be injured and therefore jeopardize the momentum that the Redskins had built after going to the playoffs last season.

In an unfortunate display of foreshadowing, Portis partially dislocated his left shoulder in a 19-3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night.

He took one handoff for eight yards and then blocked for quarterback Mark Brunell. When Keiwan Ratliff intercepted Brunell’s sixth attempt, however, Portis extended his left arm to make a tackle and partially knocked the bone part of the way out the shoulder socket.

“After that 8-yard run, I was like, ‘Get me out of that game,'” Portis said. “That’s what I was thinking. It’s football. It can happen to anyone. It happened to me.”

“For whoever’s watching: Let’s get rid of some of these games,” Portis said. “Four games is ridiculous. Then you play a 16-game season and the playoffs behind that.”

Portis knows that this kind of thing can happen to any player at any time. It’s just unfortunate to have star players like Portis, who rushed for a club-record 1,516-yards last year, go down in just the first preseason game.

So, what does this mean for the Redskins?

Well for one, with no timetable set for Portis to return (at least not yet anyway), Ladell Betts will take over the starting roll. Betts rushed for 338-yards on 89 carries last year and did rush for 92-yards in a game against the 49ers.

Betts isn’t as shifty as Portis in between the tackles, but is a bigger back at 223-pounds and could share the load with special-teams guy Rock Cartwright.

The biggest thing that possibly dooms the Redskins is that they play in the NFC East and there is no room for error in a division that could house multiple playoff teams. However, Washington only plays two division games (at. Dallas Week 2; at. NY Giants Week 5) before their BYE week and that might give Portis enough time to return.

With Washington relying so much on Portis to open things up for Brunell in the passing game, this is going to put a lot of pressure on the Redskins defense to keep them in games. Brunell resurrected his career last year, but he needs a running game now, more than ever and can’t do it on his own.

UPDATE: Coach Joe Gibbs said that Portis will miss the remainder of the preseason, but the goal is to have him back by the season opener if his shoulder recovers from soreness in time for him to rehab.